What is a love language?
I'm so glad you asked!
A love language is the way we express love. This could be through acts of service, words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch or through gifts.
It might be that you express your love through cooking yummy or healthy foods, thoughtful gifts and small gestures, or perhaps through romantic Valentine's flowers or gifts.
By the way, this isn't just a spouse thing, it's about how you express your love for anyone- friends, family members, children, or... tenuous link inbound... your favourite small businesses! Ta-Dah! I managed to seamlessly link Valentine's Day and supporting small businesses.
As it's Valentine's Day today, we thought we'd share some of our favourite ways to show love for your favourite small businesses.
What's your small business love language?
Treat Them
The biggest impact you can have on a small business is to treat them (AKA buy something from them!) Even something that seems small and insignificant to you can make a huge difference to your favourite small businesses.
"It's just £1"...said 1 million people...
Stay Faithful
I know, I know, it is just SO EASY to swap those small businesses purchases for the mass-produced, cheaper websites. But please, if you love a small business, try to support them when you can. Stay faithful and committed to shopping small!
Flatter Them
Follow them on social media, like their posts, share them and leave comments. This doesn't cost a penny but it helps your favourite small businesses to get discovered by potential new customers. It really does make a massive difference!
Show The World You Love Them
Spread the word- tell your friends and your family about the amazing, brilliant and unique small business you just discovered. If you've made a purchase, get yourself over to Google and leave a 5 star review pronto.
Listen To Them
Most small businesses have an email newsletter. Subscribe to it and read what they have to say. You might even discover some wonderful new products or build a deeper connection with the brands you love.
Forgive Them
The most heart-breaking thing a small business owner can hear is "My order went missing in the post and I'm so disappointed in you that I'll never, EVER shop with your small business again. EVER!!!"
Ooof. I mean, kick us while we're down, much.
We've made your order, packaged your order carefully and with love, paid for postage and sent it on its merry way. What the postal system then does is completely and utterly out of our control. The worst bit is that we almost always have to cover the cost of either refunding the order or replacing it, and there's no compensation we can claim.
It simply would not be in the interests of any small business owners to deliberately not deliver your item, so please, PLEASE try to be understanding if this happens!
A little bit of kindness, compassion and understanding goes a long way. We will, of course, always put things right if your order does get lost or damaged, but be nice to us!
I will just finish this rant by saying that 99.9% of the time, orders do arrive on time and in perfect condition. And of the 0.1% that don't arrive, 99% of those customers are understanding and lovely. We see you and appreciate you.
What's your small business love language?
Maybe it's reading this blog. If so, thank you, we love you too!
Emma x